Film reviews by nationality

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Today, Montreal's Festival du nouveau cinéma (FNC), which will take place between October 12 to 23. Here's the complete line-up of feature films according to the press release we received.

Opening and closing

The 40th edition of the FNC kicks off on Wednesday, October 12, with Declaration of War by Valérie Donzelli (France) at Cinéma Impérial (Centre Sandra & Leo Kolber, Salle Lucie & André Chagnon). This critically-acclaimed second feature by Valérie Donzelli (The Queen of Hearts) tells the love story of Roméo and Juliette who are battling to save their sick child. The director and her producer Edouard Weil will be in attendance.

Ten days later, on Saturday, October 22, Monsieur Lazhar (Quebec/Canada) by Philippe Falardeau will close the Festival. Selected to represent Canada at the Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film, Monsieur Lahzar shows the efforts of an Algerian schoolteacher to help his Grade 6 students come to terms with their teacher’s death. Between the opening and closing dates, the FNC will be in celebratory mode, highlighting the social relevance of featured works.

The section opens with the North American premiere of Guilty of Romance by Sion Sono (Japan), a story of ordinary mental illness in the form of a psychosexual, neofeminist punk thriller, with powerful lead actress Megumi Kagurazaka in attendance. Other big names on the program: Takahi Miike with Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai (a 3D remake of Kobayashi’s masterpiece); Shinya Tsukamoto, who will present the much-anticipated Kotoko, about a mother on the brink of madness, which nabbed the Orizzonti prize at the last Venice festival. Must-see new discoveries include Our Day Will Come by Romain Gavras, a Thelma and Louise for redheads and a cross between Gaspar Noé and Bertrand Blier, starring Vincent Cassel. It’s no secret that Australian film is in a state of effervescence, represented here by two major works: the mysterious Sleeping Beauty by Julia Leigh, with rising star Emily Browning, and Justin Kruzel’s monstrous Snowtown, which got a special mention at the 2011 Cannes Critics’ Week. And . . . (drum roll), don’t miss the long-awaited world premiere of Assassin’s Creed Embers, an all-new animated short by Ubisoft studios. Expect an evening of surprises, anecdotes and of course sneak previews of the new game by the Montreal mega franchise. On the US front, look for the astonishing The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye, a beautiful love story told through one of the most radical artistic performances the world has ever seen. Director Marie Losier, the darling of New York’s experimental new cinema scene, will be in attendance. We’ll also be showing Take Shelter, by Jeff Nichols, which won the Critics’ Week Grand Prix at Cannes and has everybody talking, as well as the documentary Last Fast Ride: The Love, Life and Death of a Punk Goddess, by Lilly Ayers, on punk icon Marian Anderson (with narration by Henry Rollins). Asia will also be in the spotlight with Gandu, by Quashiq Mukherjee, a proud representative of an all-new style of Indian films (Wong Kar-wai meets a pornographic ghetto rapper version of Gaspard Noé in Calcutta). Also showing will be Shirome, by Koji Shiraishi, a horror film that takes delight in terrifying a group of young female Japanese pop stars, offering a new twist on The Blair Witch Project. Finally, the latest wacky flick from Thailand — Saturday Killer, by Yuthlert Sippapak, about a hit man with severe erectile dysfunction — along with the superb Tatsumi, Eric Khoo’s tribute to renowned manga artist Yoshihiro Tatsumi. And, last but not least, the first real 3D porn flick, Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy, by Christopher Sun Lap Key, which smashed this year’s box office records in Hong Kong and has become a true Chinese cultural phenomenon.

Today, Montreal's Festival du nouveau cinéma (FNC), which will take place between October 12 to 23. Here's the complete line-up of feature films according to the press release we received.

Opening and closing

The 40th edition of the FNC kicks off on Wednesday, October 12, with Declaration of War by Valérie Donzelli (France) at Cinéma Impérial (Centre Sandra & Leo Kolber, Salle Lucie & André Chagnon). This critically-acclaimed second feature by Valérie Donzelli (The Queen of Hearts) tells the love story of Roméo and Juliette who are battling to save their sick child. The director and her producer Edouard Weil will be in attendance.

Ten days later, on Saturday, October 22, Monsieur Lazhar (Quebec/Canada) by Philippe Falardeau will close the Festival. Selected to represent Canada at the Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film, Monsieur Lahzar shows the efforts of an Algerian schoolteacher to help his Grade 6 students come to terms with their teacher’s death. Between the opening and closing dates, the FNC will be in celebratory mode, highlighting the social relevance of featured works.

The section opens with the North American premiere of Guilty of Romance by Sion Sono (Japan), a story of ordinary mental illness in the form of a psychosexual, neofeminist punk thriller, with powerful lead actress Megumi Kagurazaka in attendance. Other big names on the program: Takahi Miike with Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai (a 3D remake of Kobayashi’s masterpiece); Shinya Tsukamoto, who will present the much-anticipated Kotoko, about a mother on the brink of madness, which nabbed the Orizzonti prize at the last Venice festival. Must-see new discoveries include Our Day Will Come by Romain Gavras, a Thelma and Louise for redheads and a cross between Gaspar Noé and Bertrand Blier, starring Vincent Cassel. It’s no secret that Australian film is in a state of effervescence, represented here by two major works: the mysterious Sleeping Beauty by Julia Leigh, with rising star Emily Browning, and Justin Kruzel’s monstrous Snowtown, which got a special mention at the 2011 Cannes Critics’ Week. And . . . (drum roll), don’t miss the long-awaited world premiere of Assassin’s Creed Embers, an all-new animated short by Ubisoft studios. Expect an evening of surprises, anecdotes and of course sneak previews of the new game by the Montreal mega franchise. On the US front, look for the astonishing The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye, a beautiful love story told through one of the most radical artistic performances the world has ever seen. Director Marie Losier, the darling of New York’s experimental new cinema scene, will be in attendance. We’ll also be showing Take Shelter, by Jeff Nichols, which won the Critics’ Week Grand Prix at Cannes and has everybody talking, as well as the documentary Last Fast Ride: The Love, Life and Death of a Punk Goddess, by Lilly Ayers, on punk icon Marian Anderson (with narration by Henry Rollins). Asia will also be in the spotlight with Gandu, by Quashiq Mukherjee, a proud representative of an all-new style of Indian films (Wong Kar-wai meets a pornographic ghetto rapper version of Gaspard Noé in Calcutta). Also showing will be Shirome, by Koji Shiraishi, a horror film that takes delight in terrifying a group of young female Japanese pop stars, offering a new twist on The Blair Witch Project. Finally, the latest wacky flick from Thailand — Saturday Killer, by Yuthlert Sippapak, about a hit man with severe erectile dysfunction — along with the superb Tatsumi, Eric Khoo’s tribute to renowned manga artist Yoshihiro Tatsumi. And, last but not least, the first real 3D porn flick, Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy, by Christopher Sun Lap Key, which smashed this year’s box office records in Hong Kong and has become a true Chinese cultural phenomenon.